Her rental apartment was on the dodgy side of town, not so top-notch, not so great a landlord, and the list went on. However, she’d been able to put her head down to sleep. She’d managed and hadn’t thought much about it. Maybe she was naïve. Hell, she hadn’t realized her fiancé was pulling an illegal scam under her nose because she’d been too trusting, too naïve. Although she’d found her apartment scary, it wasn’t until she spent the first night in the luxury town home Sasha’s cousin called ‘cute’ that she realized just how afraid she’d been. She’d been terrified. On edge every moment of every day. Always looking over her shoulder, sleeping with one eye open. Now, feeling safe for the first time in months, the exhaustion and stress almost oozed out of her pores. She slept like a rock.

She woke again at one point, not realizing where she was at first or what time it was.

She scanned the room beyond her bed, which was like a white fluff of a cloud it looked so pristine and comfortable. Hotel? No, wait, flashes of last night came rushing back and she blinked back tears as she thought of what Sasha had done for her. He had no idea how much he’d given. It wasn’t a big deal to him, but it was huge to her. She fell back onto the luxurious bed and savored the moment.

Kicking her feet in glee, she squealed and thrashed like an excited kid.

Clothes. She needed some of them.

The night before, Sasha must have set her stuff in the room. The walk-in closet was open with her stuff hanging, along with a bag beside the bed on a chair that held her toiletry stuff. She grabbed it and went to explore the bathroom.

“Holy crap!” she exclaimed, loud enough to echo off the porcelain.

The grandeur of the bathroom gave her a rush. The walls, which were cathedral height, were clad in mauve marble tile. The high shower drapes were tied back with drama to welcome her into a very generous tub. The bathroom was stocked with the most decadent toiletries. Sasha said to help herself to whatever was there, and she fully intended to take him up on it.

She stripped naked while she ran a warm bath. She opened bottles and experienced the bouquets of each one until she found the fragrance she wanted to wear for the day. She spilled her choice into the rising water. Soon, the tub was topped with sweet-smelling froth. Kallie stepped in.

She slipped into familiar decadence. When she ran her executive assistant placement agency, she’d made a pretty good living. She’d been cautious with her money, appreciating how hard it’d been to earn it, but her one indulgence was spa-ing out. Once a month she would take an extra day, pay someone to massage her, lay hot stones on her, and give her a facial. Taking a bubble bath in Sasha’s expensive bath soap was a pretty good substitute.

Kallie kept on relishing the experience, smiling lazily in her suds. She casually looked around the bathroom from the perspective of a tub-lounger, when she spotted something completely unexpected. Up in the corner of the cathedral ceiling, with a bird’s eye view of all that went on in the bathroom, was a camera. Kallie clutched to cover herself beneath the cloak of bubbles.

She made her face of horror directly in the camera. There was no way to know whether it was on, though, why would Sasha have cameras in his house if he didn’t use them? She got that it was a very expensively decorated home with nice things and that it was vacant from time to time—but in the bathroom?

Kallie tugged on the tie that drew back the drapes. The curtains fell into place, creating a little room out of the tub, but they didn’t conceal her from the camera. It was on the ceiling. Though she enjoyed the bath soap momentarily, now she felt annoyed by it. Was he a dirty, disgusting dog watching her?

Damn him!

She was soapy and needed to rinse off, and the camera would catch it all.

Kallie drew the curtain up and over her, knotting a corner of it in the handle of the soap dish. She made a canopy between the camera and her. It wasn’t the best, but at least she was able to rinse off in private. She quickly shampooed her hair and made sure she was soap-free before getting out of the tub.

Semi-draped in the other half of the curtain, Kallie stepped onto the plush carpet and exchanged her cover for a big, plush towel. It felt scrumptious around her clean body. Her hair hung in a long, wet tangle. She quickly secured it in another towel...then dashed for her bedroom.

She thought she was heading for privacy, but if Sasha had a camera in the bathroom he had to have cameras in the bedroom. Kallie looked up. Sure enough, there it was: plain as day. She’d been so exhausted once the work buzz left her, she hadn’t even noticed.

She took her backpack and dressed in the walk-in. Though there was a camera no doubt in the closet, she had to compromise with herself to calm down and not look for one. Door closed and lights off gave little view if there was one in the closet. She grinned. Two could play at that game. She could pretend she wasn’t under Sasha’s domineering eye. She dressed quickly and then twisted the knob of the closet door.

Except, the door didn’t budge. She pulled it, tried wiggling it with no success. She bumped it again, putting her shoulder into it but not hard enough to hurt herself.

Great! Now she was locked in the closet? Seriously?

She stepped back, ready to tear the thing down. He wanted to be some pervert, watching her secretly? Damn him! A normal peeping-Tom would have hidden the cameras. Idiot! Now he wanted her locked in a freakin’ closet?

Anger boiling over, she crouched slightly and rammed her shoulder harder against the door, twisting the knob at the same time.

Apparently, the door wasn’t locked. Just stuck.

When she rammed it, the damn thing popped open and she went tumbling out. The door slammed the adjacent wall and set off an alarm.

What the hell?

Realization hit her and she blushed at her own stupidity. Sasha’s cameras were part of a security system, and now she’d made sirens blare throughout the house.

Kallie called Sasha.

“Hi,” he said as he answered the phone, and then he laughed hard.

“It’s not funny!” she shouted. “It’s freakin’ loud!”

Like magic, the sirens stopped.

“There,” he stated, his voice laced with amusement. “That better?”

“Yeah, thanks,” she said, rubbing her ears. “Jiminy, that was loud.”

“Hey, watch your language,” he scolded her playfully.

“How did you make it stop?”

“Just texted the code to the security company. I was going to come by to show you all that stuff last night, but you looked exhausted. There’s sensors, cameras, and a code. Only thing on right now is the sensors.” He chuckled. “Which, I think it’s safe to say, you’ve figured out. They’re off now.”

Her head throbbed with the noise even though it had abated.

“I don’t want to be in your hair, but if you have the time I can stop by in a few and show you how to work the system. You need to be anywhere today?”

She had nowhere to go. “You might as well,” she said. “Tough to take in before my first cup of coffee.” She wanted to drill him about cameras being where they shouldn’t be. They might be off, but the bathroom? She shook her head.

“You haven’t had coffee yet?”

It was a point of pride not to admit she hadn’t ever slept as soundly as she had last night. He didn’t approve of the fact that she’d been in that bad part of town. He knew he was right and she knew he was right; she just didn’t want any admission to go to his head. “Just cleaned up and organized my stuff.”

“Okay. I’ll be over in a bit.”

She hung up, and while she waited for him she decided to go find a coffee pot. She imagined he had the place stocked with delicious exotic coffee, preferably dark roast. Her mouth watered.

She found the coffee pot; that part was easy. Kallie opened cabinet doors, trying to learn which cabinet held what and where the coffee might be. The cabinets were awfully high, obviously hung with Sasha in mind. She stepped back. Way up on the top-most shelf, she spied a shiny bag that looked like it might be coffee.

Kallie gripped the cabinet lip and pushed herself up onto the counter. It was the only way she could reach the coffee, short of dragging a chair from the dining room. This was much easier.

The bag toppled out of the shelf and she caught it easily. Sadly, the bag she thought was coffee turned out to be a bag of fancy baking chocolate.

She walked along the counter, fishing in each cabinet, but couldn’t find the needed brew.

“What’re you doing?”

Kallie jumped in surprise, and before she could lose her balance Sasha cinched her hips with his big, powerful arm. She could feel his bicep bulge against the small of her back as he pressed her body to his, steadying her. With ease, he lowered her to the floor.

The heat from his body singed against her and warmed her core. She stood frozen, his arm still around her, and stared into his concerned blue eyes. If she leaned in just a little, she could press her lips against his. Shift slightly and her thigh would be pressing against his... “I-I w-was looking for coffee.” She stared at him dreamily. “You could have knocked.” Wait, it was his house, why would he have to knock? “You should’ve called out so I knew you were here.”

“And scare the shit out of you without being able to catch you?” He shook his head and, without releasing her, he reached to the side and pulled open the drawer beneath the coffee pot, revealing coffee, filters and anything else she might need. He paused after closing the drawer again.

Their chests rose and fell with the same heavy breathing.

Kallie was shaking. She wanted him bad, and if she’d just met him in a bar she might make him a one- night stand, she felt that hot for him. He was so hard to resist. She tried to do all the math why it was not a good idea to get sucked into the powerful vortex of attraction with him. However, he was such a fine specimen she decided to go for it. It was time for her to lead her own life.

His arm tightened around her and he drew her closer. She had a fleeting thought that he probably seduced all the women in his life; at the same time, she told herself she needed this. Who cares? She deserved to be with a hot man like this. Deserved to feel seduced, cherished, and wanted by a man just for her and not her money or her business.

Maybe he was just going to kiss her and didn’t know they were going to sleep together, but she did. She intended to make sure of it. She would let him know she wanted him.

She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders as he moved into her. They both pushed against one another, doing their best to fuel the fire. He had to feel it, too. There was no way he didn’t. He wanted her, at least at this moment he did.

It was sinful sweetness.

He seemed to be trembling as he slowly pressed his warm, soft lips to hers.

It felt so commanding, so romantic, and yet there was the least little bit of nervousness in his movements that was endearing.

Kallie didn’t care. She knew what she wanted. It’d been building up for days and she wasn’t about to take it slowly.

She feasted on his mouth, on his touch.

It’d been so long since she’d had a man in her arms—and what a man—she couldn’t contain herself. She swept her tongue into his mouth, tasting him like there was no tomorrow. She didn’t care if she came off as aggressive or fast. She wanted to enjoy herself. He tasted of something sweet and the flavor of him was instantly addicting. Adventure, right? To forget her past. Go with the flow and enjoy herself for once. Like spa-ing; yes, she told herself it was just the same type of indulgence.

And, dammit, she was going to make the most of this moment.

It might never come again.